Fellowes alumni shoot some hoops

Fellowes alumni returned to the high school over the Christmas holidays to shoot some hoops.

Last week, 50 current and former students hit the court for the Fellowes Alumni Basketball Tournament, an event that saw eight hours of continuous playing.

Each team played five 20-minute games each. Fellowes principal Dean Zadow said he hopes the tournament will become an annual tradition.

"We’re trying to build the alumni so we hope it continues and people will come out and join us for the holidays," said Zadow.

The highlight was seeing the current Fellowes junior and senior basketball teams using the opportunity to compete against their graduated predecessors. The pace and physicality of those games were more intense than they would see in league play, however, both held up well. The seniors gained a tie against Deryk Ryan Forest Products, a team made up of graduating classes from the mid to late-1980s. Several players on that squad were past city and county level champions.

Mahood’s Construction, captained by Shawn Mahood and made up of alumni from the 1990s, were crowned as tournament champions with four wins and one loss. They narrowly beat Hugli’s Blueberry Ranch for that honour. Captained by Brian Hugli, that squad included a mix of graduates from the early 1980s and the last three years. Some of those recent alumni were on the undefeated 2011 Fellowes senior team.

Deryk Ryan Forest Products came in third place with two wins, two losses and a tie. The County Road 26ers, captained by Jamie MacDonald with a team core coming from the Class of ’96, finished in fourth place with two wins, three losses. They were the only squad to defeat Mahood Construction.

The tournament raised funds for developmental basketball skills programs for youth in the Pembroke/Petawawa area.

The Fellowes Alumni Organizing Committee is seeking input from graduates in terms of generating more interest in the alumni. If you have any ideas, please pass them on to Deryk Ryan at derykryan@sympatico.ca.